Our shoots are being held as promotional shoots for our Practical Long Range Riflery courses being offered here in SW Virginia.

The course is shot in 7 stages, with a 25 dollar entry fee (which really just covers the range cost)... and prizes will be paid to top three shooters, generally 100 dollars to top shooter, 50 to 2nd place, and 3rd place basically gets his money back at 25 dollars.

The course begins at ~175 yards, with three shots on a playing card for a possible 100 points. First hit is worth 80 points, next two hits worth 10 points each.

Then to steel at 325, 450, 600, 750, 825, and finally to the 1040 yard target. (we had to place the 1000 yard target 40 yards farther out to keep it visible on the hillside).

On the steel plates, shooters must make one hit, but they'll have five shots to do it. A time limit of 150 seconds will be allotted to each shooter for rifle set-up, target acquisition, and firing of necessary shots. This time will commence when the shooter's name is called from the roster. A first round hit is worth 95 points (5 extra points for hitting the 4 inch orange dot in the center). For each additional round needed to hit the target, the shooter will lose 10 points.

Steel plates range from 12 inch squares at closer ranges, to 18 inch squares out to 825 yards, and the 1040 yard target is a 24 inch square.

Shooters must spot their own shots. However, after the 3rd miss, the shooter can call "time" and ask to "buy a spot." This will cost him 15 points off his total score for that stage. The clock will be stopped while the shooter gets advice from the range officers and whomever else he chooses to trust as to where his shots have been landing. The "time out" will not exceed 60 seconds, and once the clock is re-started the shooter will have 60 additional seconds to fire the remaining two shots, in hopes of hitting the target.

A perfect score would be 700 points. The highest score to date has been 645 points.

We shoot rain or shine, and unless winds exceed 20 mph steadily, we will not halt proceedings. Practical Riflery shoots should of course mimic "real world" scenarios where rifles are used in the hunting fields. Therefore the weather must be dealt with. Bring rain gear if the weather calls for it, as well as warm clothing and sandwiches, coffee, and of course water.

Other gear which will be of help to you would be a spotting scope and binoculars, bi-pod a must, rear bag... and such. All shooting will be done from the prone position, unless the shooter has a physical condition which prevents him from shooting prone, in which case he may bring whatever portable device he may need to shoot from.

We do have a lot of fun on these shoots... so if you're close enough to warrant coming on down and shooting with us, I'm sure you'll enjoy the event.

However, we will be hosting a 1 mile shoot this coming spring, more info on that later... then you can bring the big gun.

Since we have to spot our own shots for this Practical Long Range Riflery shoot, it's best to have a rifle that doesn't "get away from you" on recoil... many guys shoot silencers... most of us do not. Muzzle brakes okay... just 300WM max.

I actually shot a stock Savage 270 in the last match, with a 4 power scope. I don't score my own hits, since I'd basically have a "home field advantage," but I did want to demonstrate that hits could be made at long ranges with pretty unassuming equipment. The Savage 110 was totally unmodified (I didn't even lighten the Accutrigger from factory setting), and I used a cheap Bushnell 4 power scope to dial shots. I made first round hits at 825 and 1040... I fared less well at 600 yards for some reason... but a second round hit at 750 wasn't bad.

I said that only to emphasize that you can really do this with some pretty standard gear. I designed a little "rev and clock" system to mark zero ranges on the Bushnell 4x scope's coin slot turret... and oddly enough, it works. So you don't necessarily need a high dollar rifle to get in on the fun--and perhaps even win. The winner of last Saturday's match was not shooting the most expensive rifle on the line--far from it, but his score was the important thing--and he took home the 100 dollar top prize.

We hope to have these shoots every month to 6 weeks, even through the winter... planning a "polar bear" shoot in January or February of this coming year. Should be fun.

Thanks for the info and let me know about the mile shoot. I have shot long range rifles for quite a while. I only ask because I normally spot my own with my 50, where as I cannot with my 338 and such. The 50 has less of a jolt or recoil than a .243. I shoot a .308 up to 800 or so , and it kicks way harder than the 50. but to stand near the brake on the 50 wouldn't be a good idea...lol. I might bring it and be talked into trying it. I would like to ride out and watch if that is ok. If anyone needs any equipment, spotting scopes, barometers, etc, please let me know. I have some I can bring for those that don't have it.

I would like to meet everyone. It sounds like my type of crowd.

__________________
" The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to
keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect
themselves against tyranny in Government...." - Thomas Jefferson

When you do the 1 mile shoot, I will be more than happy to let anyone try their hand at the 50. I have some great hand loads and some great factory ammo. Other than the extremely high db of the report, the rifle is a pussycat. It weights 36 pounds so recoil is virtually nonexistent. I try to let everyone interrested shoot it. It helps to expand the "big bore" community. It is one of those things everyone should do before they die...lol.

__________________
" The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to
keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect
themselves against tyranny in Government...." - Thomas Jefferson

I'll let you know when we get the mile shoot scheduled... working on details with the land owner when the bullets will land.

Jimbo... it would be great to have you come up and "spectate"... just let me know if you need directions... my email is dan "at" bangsteel dot com.

We still have room in a couple of long range classes in October and November, if you're interested... we honestly believe you'll learn more than you od at the average long range school--for less than half of what they charge. Give it some thought... click the link below for more info...

Because so many have asked about it... we're going to run a "practice day" at the range, a week prior to the match. At this point, all those who have registered have either shot the course before, or they are planning to come to the practice day, so it should remain fair for all.

That said, the exact target placement will vary from the actual match. We also vary the target locations match to match, to keep things from getting stale...

The practice day is October 27th, 2013, and we meet at 9:30am, off exit 52 (I-77), in Bland, VA at the Kangaroo (Dairy Queen side)... at 9:45am, we'll caravan to the range.

The range fee (which will go to the land owners) for the practice day is only 20 dollars. It'll be a casual shoot, properly supervised of course, and we'll have targets set up all the way to 1040 yards. And two of our school's instructor's will be on-site, and will offer advice to help you get your rifle dialed in, as well as free advice on long range handloading, optics needs, etc.

Anyone can come to the practice day, whether you plan to shoot the match the following weekend or not. So if you're not too much into shooting matches, but would just like to come and "stretch your rifle's legs"... plan on joining us October 27th in Bland.

If interested, you can email me (find my email on site linked below), or just respond in this thread...

We held a practice shoot for our long range match today, where we shot steel targets out to 1040 yards.

We had a 10" gong placed at 615 yards. One shooter hit the gong with a 300 Win Mag and spun the target around on edge...

A fellow named Breon Odell was the next shooter up... and we told him he'd have quite a challenge, since the plate was darned near slicing fulling toward the firing line, you could *just* see the edge, and a tiny sliver of the front of the plate...

Odell, shooting a .308 bolt gun built by Raven Rifles took the challenge...

Here's how the plate was hanging in the frame...

And here's a shot of Odell's hit, again, at 615 yards...

You can see the bullet strike on the edge of the plate easily...

We didn't ask him to do it again...

A good time and great fellowship was had by all, and I do appreciate all coming out... match is next weekend, November 3rd.

Our Practical Long Range rifle match for December schedule is as follows...

Practice day, December 8th. You don't need to actually shoot in the match to attend practice day. Practice day is getting, it seems, to be far more popular than the actual match day.

On practice day, we'll have a minimum of two long range instructors on hand, and we'll help you get your trajectory dialed in, and evaluate your rifle, load, and shooting technique. Many folks are benefiting from these sessions, and some have gone on to place highly in the competition the following week--even though they had up until then never shot in such a comp before.

Practice targets are placed at DIFFERENT ranges than the actual match day targets, but the range will still extend to 1000+ yards... steel targets are shot at 325, 450 to 500, 600 to 650... 725 to 825... and 900 and 1000+ yards during practice day.
December 15th, actual match. Cash prizes will be paid to top 3 shooters.

Practice day will be 20 dollars per shooter, and you'll have at least 4 hours of range time--a fantastic deal. Match fee is 25 dollars per shooter.

Beginning in 2013, we will be increasing charges slightly, to 25 dollars for practice and 30 dollars to shoot the match. Prize payout will increase as well, of course.

If you have any questions... just email me at danielnewberry >>>at<<<gmail.com

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